Clearing of vegetation in Queensland is regulated by the Vegetation Management Act 1999, which maps areas of regulated vegetation in which clearing is restricted. Areas of remnant vegetation are mapped as regulated vegetation and cannot be broad-scale cleared for grazing purposes. However, sometimes these maps are incorrect and it is possible to have these maps amended, allowing increased use of your property.
If you believe that the mapping is incorrect on your property, Ecosure can prepare a Property Map of Assessable Vegetation (PMAV) application for submission to the Department of Natural Resources and Mines to change the area incorrectly mapped as remnant vegetation to Category X area/white areas on the map.
For the mapping to be changed, the PMAV application needs to identify that the vegetation has been cleared in the past, and that the current vegetation is less than 50% of its original cover or 70% of its original height. Sometimes this requires detailed site assessment of pre-clearing areas.
Mapping of remnant/regulated vegetation on your property can be found on Google Maps (with the NRM extension), or on the following web address:
http://www.dnrm.qld.gov.au/forms/land-property/vegetation-map-request
Ecosure’s environmental consultants in Rockhampton have dealt with hundreds of PMAV applications over grazing properties and have the expertise to provide mapping and site data to correct errors on the regulated vegetation. For information on submitting a PMAV for your property, please contact Geoffrey Sinclair on 07 4994 1000, or visit our office in Rockhampton at 71 Denham St.